Music Premier: ‘Wander’

Hear the newest EP from Santa Fe MC Jasper

Jasper is a hip-hop assassin.

With a few smaller releases mostly in music video form under his belt, the young Santa Fe MC is fairly new and surely untested, but with the release of his new EP Wander today, he's also proving to be one of the most creative and skillful writers and rappers Santa Fe has ever seen.

In four songs crammed with collaborative beats and subtle rhymes, he wends his way through a hazy sort of stream of consciousness. It's metaphysical and mellow, it's the showcase for an effortless kind of self-reflection.

"A good amount of it was just that things were changing in my world," he tells SFR. "That's not to say I didn't have control over things, but it felt at the time that I didn't. It was looking around like 'damn, things are changing. I've messed up in certain aspects.' These songs, I would say, are not apologies, but recognition."

Jasper worked with local musicians and vocalists like Tara Khozein and Dave Weeks for the backing beats, even looping in London-based synth player Kieran Kai. Chances are, Jasper says, if he happens across music he likes online, he'll reach out to its creator to talk making music, or he'll tuck it away somewhere for possible use later. It certainly creates a sound; a lo-fi and faint whisper of darker '90s hip-hop beats with a meditative air. Such beats makes Jasper songs quite unlike anything else going right now, and with his low key and soft vocal delivery added alongside them, it's pure magic.

SFR is excitd to debut Wander. Make sure you visit Jasper on other platforms like Soundcloud and YouTube as well (but remember that Bandcamp seems to be the most artist-friendly site and even hosts days wherein it won't take a share of revenues) and catch videos for the songs "Honor" and "Hollow" below.

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